“We refused to speak about Geneva after what's happened. We
must punish this dictator, Bashar the Chemist we call him, and
then we can discuss Geneva," coalition Secretary General Badr
Jamous told Reuters in Istanbul.

The Syrian National Coalition was meeting with international
opposition backers Friends of Syria in Istanbul, nominally to
discuss the upcoming peace talks.

Since then, Arab League-United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who
would have mediated the negotiations has attempted to salvage the
conference, saying that the incident proved “that no military
solution is possible”.

Brahimi and other diplomats had hoped Monday's Istanbul meeting
would sort out final details before the UN-backed talks that had
been hampered by escalation of warfare in Syria, political
falling-out among the opposition and arguments over
pre-conditions for the negotiations.

Geneva-2, conceived at a summit in the same city over a year ago,
was meant to set out conditions for a ceasefire, and outline the
transition to a new regime.

Earlier on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
said the timing of the chemical attack
“suited” the opposition, “who obviously do not want to
negotiate peacefully”, instead they want to “sabotage”
the talks.

“Why go to a conference if you believe that the regime’s
infrastructure will all be destroyed anyway by allies, and then
you can just march into Damascus unopposed, and take
control?” said the official in Moscow.

Some Western politicians have called for a military intervention
in Syria, following reports of chemical weapons use in a Damascus
surburb. The attack had previously been designated as a ‘red
line’ by the West.

A protest by several hundred exiled Syrians in Belgium also
called for the West to step in.

“We are asking for military intervention. We want the
Europeans to protect the Syrian population, who are being
massacred before the entire world. What happened to human
rights?,” asked Rabih Chaar, said the local Syrian opposition
to Euronews.

A UN-mandated expert team is currently in Damascus, attempting to
unravel the timeline of the chemical alleged attack.